Oh, in about a generation. I know my military history well enough to know that we will have permanent basing in Iraq. You are aware that we still have personnel in Kosovo, correct? So why aren’t we calling that a “failure?”

BTW, can you conclusively prove to me that Iraq is a failure?

Point of order: The Bush Administration as of now has no useful options to end the fighting in Iraq; It has already been pointed out that there are no good options in Iraq. Military already knows this.

This so-called strategy is useless for that purpose.

As for increasing troop strenght there is simply no more troops to do the job even if the administration wanted to really take control of Baghdad, let alone Iraq.

This is about the 2008 presidential election, and Bush is going to help the Democrats on this subject. Both Bush and the Dem congress will drag the situation out till the next election because they are powerless to do anything else. Bush, has boxed himself in with no tools left to change anything on the ground; Congress because they too have little ability to change things in any real sense; but hammer away at Bush and the GOP in the political arena.

The question is when will the troops return: End of 2007, Mid-2008, End of 2008, or after a new president in 2009?

A big pat on the back to Bryan over at Hot Air for his most excellent skewering of the Democrats newest plan for defeat in the war on terror.  A "slow bleed" strategy: Top House Democrats, working in concert with……

They don’t want to appear like they’re willing to “abandon the troops in the field” so they’ve decided to work with anti-war (aka anti-military) groups to do just that by changing the rules for readiness. Not that they’re concerned in the least …

Lacking the moral courage to simply vote against the war in Iraq, House Democrats are instead working with anti-war groups–no doubt including the collection of Islamists and Marxists though to be a threat and profiled here–to impose limitations that …

al-Qaeda retreats, al-Sadr run and hides,the Democrats scramble to stop this progress, al-Maliki gets tough, all in a coordinated effort with our military and coalition forces that are implementing the presidents new strategy….